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With Glowing Hearts is a documentary about social media creating social change filmed during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver

See the new trailer for our recently completed Feature Length Documentary Film. An intimate and inspiring portrait of social media for social change. This is the #van2010 Winter Olympics social media story.

Below is from the movie “The Commuter”, which was filmed entirely on the Nokia N8 in HD, stars Dev Patel as a commuter on his way to his first day of work. In this action-packed short film, Dev battles a killer Traffic Warden, a blind ninja, parkour bankers and comes face-to-face with Pamela Anderson before getting stuck in a lift with Ed Westwick and stealing a Lotus…will he make it in time?

Give your loved one the credit they deserve, make them a Producer!

When this project started there were only two people involved, Andrew and I, but now two years later, our family of producers has swelled to around 200 and we’ve got great news for everyone. Having just submitted our most recent cut of the film to SXSW in Austin TX, we’re very happy to announce that we’re opening presales for the film on the site, with the official launch having been set for February 12, 2011. We’ll mark the occasion with a special screening of the film in Vancouver where you’ll be able to come pick up your copy on DVD or USB key, with traditional shipping options available to those who can’t make it. We’re also very excited about our exclusive WGH Producer’s Package which we think is a thoughtful alternative that some people on your list will definitely appreciate receiving this holiday season.

This handsome package includes:

An official Producer’s certificate and name in the film’s credits

A certificate confirming your $5 contribution to the construction of a wireless mesh network in the Downtown Eastside

A ticket to the February 12th, 2011 screening and afterparty at W2

One copy of the completed film on DVD or USB

To show our appreciation for the support you’ve already provided, we’re giving all existing producers a 10% discount off any purchases you make on the site, so don’t miss this limited time opportunity to share your involvement with this project with your friends and family.

Attention World!! You are invited to join us at the With Glowing Hearts Unfestival 2010 presented by W2 Storyeum!

What’s an Unfestival? Well, we’re giving you a chance to see a “work-in-progress” cut of the film, as well as getting involved in some fundraising to help us complete it. We’ll have an exciting variety of silent auction items for you to bid on, as well as an opportunity to become a ‘producer’ on the film and have input into the final version!

With Glowing Hearts, is a feature length documentary which focuses on the way activists and artists in Vancouver used social media during the Olympics to affect social change and bring down barriers.

We are in our final stage of post production and need to prepare for broadcast and distribution. We have managed to get to this point with many contributions from numerous people but still have a few hurdles like insurance, music rights, publicty and people’s wages which are hard cash costs that can’t be avoided.

Unfestival Schedule:

4 pm free community screening, all are welcome

An evening fundraising screening starting at 7pm, which includes silent auction and the opportunity to become a ‘producer’. The price of your admission will also get you listed the film’s credits as a producer, but the more you contribute the larger your name will appear.

Silent auction and door prizes

There will be a producer/director Q & A after the screening, which will give you the chance to ask questions of the filmmakers, and provide feedback as we move forward to the film’s final cut!

Jon and Andrew were the only filmmakers we’ve seen who were dedicated in telling the REAL stories of our lives and other community members in the Vancouver Downtown Eastside. We are immensely grateful for their time, patience and care in working with us at AHA MEDIA over the year for their documentary film.

We at AHA MEDIA are very proud to count Jon Ornoy and Andrew Lavigne as mentors, advisors and most importantly friends of AHA MEDIA.

So many people are always interested in what, where and why we do our citizen journalism and social media documentation with cameraphones of events, functions and daily life activities in our community the Vancouver Downtown Eastside. One thing we were most impressed and touched by Jon and Andrew was that they geniunely wanted to KNOW us and be there with us through the good and bad times.

In the Vancouver Downtown Eastside, so much goes on in our community and it’s rapidly changing everyday. We deal with many issues including gentrification, poverty, lack of social housing and during the film process of With Glowing Hearts, we all learned more about ourselves and how we could change things together!!

Thanks to Jon and Andrew for being there for us and helping us tell our story to an international audience. Thank you for encouraging us and supporting our endeavors to tell the stories of the most marginalized people in our City of Vancouver.

This storyline is from the Documentary ‘With Glowing Hearts‘. It follows April Smith on her journey building AHA Media as the preeminent news source for Vancouver’s DTES using social media for social justice. Along the way April faces many challenges including homelessness

” April Smith is an incredible young woman facing a boat load of challenges. She has graciously allowed us to follow her for the last 8 months and gather the footage we used to compile this story thread. Hers is a story full of both despair and inspiration. ”

A Social Media revolution has been brewing for the past five years on websites from FaceBook, to Wikipedia, to Flickr, and as it spreads throughout the Internet and into popular culture through an increasing number of portals, it is creating a new sense of community and empowerment amongst those who have embraced it.

History has shown that poor and marginalized communities stand to gain the most from leaps forward in the democratization of information, so the excitement in areas like Vancouver’s maligned Downtown Eastside about the possibilities of Web 2.0 and beyond is palpable.

With the Winter Olympics less than a year away, billions have been spent in preparations and many poverty advocates are concerned about how the city’s several thousand homeless and working poor will fit into the equation as Vancouver puts on its best face for the world.

Against this background the film examines Social Media in action as a group named Fearless City embarks on a campaign to empower and protect its neighbours with cellphones, video-streaming, and the World Wide Web.